"The main focus of Gerald Eckert’s music is frequently not placed on a centrally triggered event or center of action, but on what has been triggered by this event and how the consequences are subsequently developed. In other words, he focuses his sights on what an impulse is followed by. For Außen, von tief innen (Outside, from Deep Within), the consistent subtle and quiet tonal structure of the work is the fine delineation of multiphonics in bass flute and double bass clarinet alongside the tonal differentiation in the violoncello part. These three layers produce an expressive spectrum whose progress repeatedly hints towards an additional electro-acoustic level, despite the fact that all tonal spectrums are generated purely through the acoustic musical instruments.
Gerald Eckert, born in Nuremberg in 1960, studied violoncello, composition and conducting at the Conservatoire in Nuremberg, mathematics at the University of Erlangen, composition with Nicolaus A. Huber and electronic composition with Dirk Reith at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen. He participated in additional composition courses with Brian Ferneyhough and Jonathan Harvey. In 1996/97, he spent a work and research year in the CCRMA at Stanford University in the USA. In 1998, he was a lecturer at the International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt and at the Akiyoshidai-Festival in Japan. In 2000/2001, he had a lectureship for composition and architecture at the TU Darmstadt.